They affect the status and income of many individuals and perhaps appear to encourage domestic abuse.

Men usually give their future wives promise rings made of silver to show that they plan to marry them.

The rings are worn prior to the actual engagement to demonstrate that they are a serious couple.This is followed by Maya, used by 14 percent of Native Americans, and Mixteco and Zapoteco, each spoken by about seven percent of Native Americans.No other indigenous language is spoken by more than five percent of Mexico's Native Americans. The most important of the Native American languages is Nahuatl.It is the primary language of more than a million Mexicans and is spoken by nearly one-fourth of all Native Americans in the country.There are many incidents of beatings, emotional abuse and rape.